It’s Never Too Soon to Teach Kids about Money

Children don’t usually learn money management skills in schools, but don’t think that means they don’t learn about money. Children are like sponges. They soak up everything they can at an early age, and learn much more than we’d like from example. This is why positive role modeling is so important. It’s also why you’re teaching your children about money whether you mean to or not. It’s important that parents realize that they should be actively teaching their children about money. At least that way they may learn the right lessons.

I know many parents who feel that discussing money or finances with children is taboo. This fact alone speaks volumes ab

6 Responses to It’s Never Too Soon to Teach Kids about Money

Great post! I’ve always believed in explaining things to my 2 sons as a way of teaching them how the world works – how money works is just one of them.

My mother, being of a different generation, finds it odd that I’m willing to discuss anything with them and answer any question, but I remember being frustrated as a child and an adolescent by the lack of answers to my questions!

They are 17 & 22 now, but I’ve always discussed things on a level they could understand at the time. I remember a 2 hour drive to a soccer tournament with my younger son – then about 12 – in which we discussed credit in terms of buying a car or a house, credit cards, paying interest, saving money and earning interest.

In a later discussion we covered the importance of paying bills on time & the consequences of not doing so, what a credit rating is, etc.

I’ve now covered these topics in depth with both boys, sometimes using print outs from the internet to illustrate certain points.

I figure that with each discussion a bit more will stick with them… Hopefully someday this will make a difference in the choices they make.

To some degree I think my high school son has a better grip on this than the college student, but he’s not been out on his own much, so he’s had less decisions to make.

So far I think they are making reasonable choices in how they spend money, given the resources available, but the discussions continue!

I completely agree that it is never too early. I work for a magazine called Young Money. We are distributed free to college campuses. Everyday I am amazed at the lack of basic financial knowledge. Kids don’t understand what is going in the economy today and they don’t even know the basics about budgeting and saving.

College kids are faced with so many firsts: first house, first bank account, first credit card. If they don’t have good financial habits before they go off to school there is a good chance they will make a mistake and end up in debt. A staggering 65.7% of college students graduate in debt.

It is vitally important that we start teaching our kids about money early. Good habits instilled when children are young stay with them.

You raise another important aspect of teaching children: each one is different! It’s easy to believe that our kids think the way we do, but that just isn’t reality. It’s also important to realize that children will learn the lessons, whether it is from their parents or others. Wouldn’t it be better if we taught them the lessons we would like them to learn?

Another great illustration that if we don’t teach our children, someone else will. I know I’d rather my children learn about credit and debt from me than the credit card companies themselves!

I wonder about that 65.7% of college students who graduate in debt. Is that credit card debt, or just “debt”? I ask, because student loan debt is pretty much unavoidable these days, and I would expect a large amount of that to be student loans. I’d be interested in how much credit card debt as well. I know I graduated college with about $10-15k in student loans, but only about $300-600 in credit card debt.

I agree! The current times show how important it is to teach kids about money and the sooner the better. But busy parents don’t always have the time or may not know how.

I think people underestimate how far reaching the impact of not managing money effectively is; kids dropping out of college, one of the leading causes of divorce, debt and bankruptcy rates rising for young people, and so on. It’s scary.

It’s less about how much you make and more about how to manage what you make effectively.